Consortium for Media Literacy

Volume No. 58

February 2014

In This Issue
Theme: Media Literacy and the Globalization of
Education

02

st

The knowledge economy of the 21 century has led to a rapidly expanding

global market in educational services, In this issue, we report on recent
developments and examine their implications for media literacy education.

Research Highlights

04

International organizations and national goverments are creating a growing

body of internationally recognized assessments and standards for K-12
education. Other organizations are building a body of standards for global
citizenship. We illuminate the links between media literacy and these
standards.

CML News

07

We include a report from a Los Angeles study on youth empowerment and a

new media literacy resource titled Mastering Media Literacy.

Media Literacy Resources

10

While the global education market has already arrived, new organizational
structures are needed to help K-12 students access high quality instruction
and support. Our interview with Robert Davis, Jr., Executive Director for
Chinese Language and Culture Initiatives at The College Board, offers some
examples of what those structures might look like.

Med!aLit Moments

16

In his commentary on CNN coverage of the September 2013 Washington,DC

Naval Yard shootings, Daily Show host Jon Stewart gamely suggested that
reporters speak (or scream) their unsubstantiated conclusions into a
speculation jar. In this MediaLit Moment, your middle and lower level high
school students will investigate why broadcast news reporters are so willing to
report unverified information about breaking news stories, and theyll have a
chance to practice with guidelines for evaluating these stories.

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 1

Theme: Media Literacy and the Globalization of Education

Its likely that some of you who are reading this newsletter have taken your children to a
Sylvan Learning Center. Sylvan Learning Centers are just the tip of an entire iceberg of
education properties, however. In 1999, Sylvan Learning Systems was renamed Laureate
Education Inc., and launched its Laureate International University Network with the acquisition
of the Universidad de Europea de Madrid. Since then, the Laureate network has grown to
include 75 institutions in 30 countries, with combined online and on-campus enrollments of
about 800,000 students (www.laureate.net)
In Qatars Education City, just outside the capital city of Doha, Cornell University has opened
a medical school, and Georgetown University has opened a branch of its School of Foreign
Service. Young women in traditional Qatari garb are welcomed to the Texas A&M engineering
school with signs reading Welcome Home, Aggie! (Alberts, The Globalization of Higher
Education). While students in these new (and newly acquired) schools may experience the
benefits of intercultural exchange, there is no doubt these ventures are undertaken with the
intention of capitalizing on the rapidly expanding global market in higher education.
Whether theyre in Berkeley, New York or Doha, university admissions officers will be attracted
to applicants with media literacy skills. Information literacy is essential to the knowledge
economy. Creativity and communication skills are essential to collaboration that takes place
across different points of the globe. Skills in accessing new media and communications
technologies make collaboration possible, and media production skills are frequently needed
for participation in the media culture that binds the global economy together.
Traditional university systems have additional incentives for entering the global marketplace of
educational services. As public expenditure on higher education continues to shrink,
universities seek to supplement their incomes with online courses and offshore degree
programs. Most foreign students who enroll at onshore campuses pay the full cost of tuition,
and so generate additional revenue for campus and local communities. In short, importing
students and exporting learning services have become clear revenue streams (Hobson, The
Impact of Globalization on Higher Education, 480).
Student demand has also driven this market. In the recent past, online programs at for-profit
schools such as the University of Phoenix were viewed as a quick and dirty route to a
degree, with curricula and staff seen as inferior to those of brick-and-mortar non-profit
institutions. And yet, even in traditional universities, student demand has been rising for more
time-efficient courses of study, including short-term intensives and learning modules. And the
increasing reach of programs which offer anytime, anywhere learningwhether operated by
the University of Phoenix or more prestigious institutions such as the British Open University-has led to increased demand for programs which lead more directly to job and professional
opportunities than traditional university programs (ibid).

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 2

The result is a highly mobile, highly competitive marketplace of educational services and
student talent. Demand is increasing for information on international educational markets. A
chemistry student in South Africa who aspires to graduate study in her field might consult
global university rankings to shop for programs in Singapore or the U.K. In an interview with
Forbes magazine, Ben Wildavsky, author of The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities
Are Re-Shaping the World, offers one example of increased mobility of talent: I think of a guy
I spoke to in India. The IITs [Indian Institutes of Technology] are fiercely competitive. He
came in No. 22 in the country on the national exam, which is extraordinary. He went to an ITT,
and while he was there he won a place as a research assistant at a leading research institute
in Switzerland. Then he landed an internship at UBS in Hong Kong, and after he graduated he
worked for two years at UBS in Hong Kong and was transferred to London, where he is now
(quoted in Alberts).
In this issue of Connections, we report on the global education marketplace, and illuminate the
place of media literacy education within it. In our research articles, we turn our attention to K12 education. In this arena, we find that standards, benchmarks and outcomes for world
class students often include skills needed for global awareness, and that these may be
complemented by media literacy skills. In our resources section, we interview Robert Davis,
Jr., Executive Director for Chinese Language and Culture Initiatives at the College Board, who
has led many Chinese exchange programs, and promoted many Chinese language programs
in U.S. schools. And, in our MediaLit Moment, we offer your students a chance to test their
skills at evaluating the reliability of breaking news stories (and a couple of handy resources as
well).

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 3

Research Highlights
Examples of Global Education Initiatives
The search for international standards in education is nearly a century old. In 1926, Adolph
Ferrire, director of the International Office of New Schools in Geneva, formally surveyed 17
leaders in educational reform regarding a proposed international curriculum effort known as
maturit internationale. The curriculum was intended to address the concerns of parents of
students at the recently formed International School of Geneva (founded 1924) over
acceptance to universities outside of Switzerland (Sylvester, Historical Resources for
Research in International Education, 16).
Concern about standards for national education systems is at least as old as A Nation at
Risk, the report commissioned by Ronald Reagan in 1983 which argued that the U.S.
educational system was failing to meet the need for a competitive workforce. An excellent
American society, the authors asserted, will be prepared through the education and skill of
its people to respond to the challenges of a rapidly changing world. (National Commission on
Excellence in Education,14).
In the 21st century, regulatory agencies have sometimes played a role as standard bearers.
The British Office of Communications (Ofcom) furnishes one good example. In 2009, the
British Department of Culture, Media and Sport published the Digital Britain report, whose
authors declare their ambition To make the UK a world leader in research, innovation,
technology and creativity, by inspiring the next generation and creating the environment for
digital talent to thrive (165). A supplemental Ofcom report addresses educational
expectations. What will allow digital talent to thrive in Britain? The authors of the Ofcom
report argue that media literacy skills must be embedded across primary, secondary and
adult curricula. Skills in critical analysis are essential: citizens should be able to evaluate the
origins, context and motivations associated with digital media and communications (30); and
schools are expected to encourage young people to get involved as digital participants and
creators to develop their creative and critical thinking skills (31).
Some organizations which administer external examinations issue their own international
credentials. In 1995, the College Board introduced the Advanced Placement International
Diploma as a globally recognized certificate for students with an international outlook
(Hayden, 133). Since the mid-1980s, secondary students in the U.K. have taken General
Certification of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams in individual subjects. An International
GSCE was approved by Cambridge Assessments in 1988, and today Cambridge
International Examinations administers International A or AS Level university entrance exams
in any combination of 55 subjects. Media Studies has been added as a subject for 2015.
Among other topics, the Media Studies syllabus covers institutions and audiences, critical
perspectives, and global media. (www.cie.org.uk)
Mastery of world languages is an obvious advantage to international commerce, and a

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 4

perennial international standard for education. National cultural organizations such as the
Cervantes Institute, Goethe Institute and Alliance Franaise issue informal but widely
recognized language certificates. The Chinese Confucius Institute is a relative newcomer,
but it has established nearly 500 centers in the U.S. alone, and the great majority of these
administer multi-level language exams. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the rapid
diffusion of these centers is the acceptance of Chinese language programs as a marker of
educational quality in the culture of public schools. For example, in this video produced by
the Confucius Institute at UCLA, disadvantaged students in the Boyle Heights neighborhood
of East Los Angeles credit the Confucius Institute program in their school with raising their life
and career aspirations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHyh7yY-gIE&feature=youtu.be
In sum, international standards for education--whether formal or informal, whether created by
national governments, international testing consortia or smaller non-profit organizations--have
enabled the full participation of individuals in national and international commerce since the
first decades of the 20th century. And some of those standards have regarded media literacy
as a prerequisite for participation in the knowledge economy of the 21st century.

Standards for International Education and Media Literacy

So far, we have addressed programs that exemplify international standards for education.
Some of the connections between media literacy education and these standards have been
integral, while others have appeared more incidental. Standards for what is most frequently
called international education are another matter. From its inception in the mid-19th century,
the international schools movement has been devoted to international-mindedness as a
primary aim. Today, the phrase is usually rendered global awareness or global
citizenship. However these global skills are denominated, the thematic connections between
international education and media literacy education are many.
Several national and international organizations have created K-12 curricular frameworks
which include global skills. One notable example is the partnership between the Asia Society
and the U.S. Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The Asia Societys framework
of global competences is designed for direct application to the Common Core State
Standards (organized and drafted in part by members of the CCSSO). Globally competent
students have the skills to Investigate their World, Weigh Perspectives, Communicate
Ideas, and Take Action. (http://asiasociety.org/education/resources-schools/professionallearning/gps-future-success). By comparison, media literacy students investigate the role of
media in society and the world, learn how to examine media from multiple perspectives, form
independent opinions about media and communicate them to others, and learn to empower
themselves rather than simply accepting the current media culture.
One of the more dynamic forces in the international schools movement today is the
International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). Initially a curricular service offered to

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 5

international secondary schools in 1962 by the Geneva-based International Schools

Association, the IBO now offers four curricular programs (Primary Years Program, Middle
Years Program, Diploma Program, Career-related Certificate), and serves as an accrediting
agency for schools which implement their programs. Currently the IBO works with over 3,700
schools in 147 countries serving more than one million students (www.ibo.org)
The curricular frameworks of the IBO and the U.S.-based Partnership for 21st Century Skills
both combine global citizenship and media literacy skills. On January 27th, the Partnership
announced a year-long initiative to re-define and re-imagine 21st century citizenship, in
consultation with leading global awareness, civic learning, and digital literacy experts
(http://www.p21.org/our-work/citizenship). In addition to promoting digital literacy, the P21
framework directly addresses media literacy skills, including skills in critical media analysis
and creation.
IB students are encouraged to embrace the IB Learner Profile, a series of ten attributes
valued by IB World Schools, all of which address some aspect of global awareness. While
IB programs do not address media literacy directly, the Diploma Programs core Creativity,
Action, Service requirement reflects the creativity and empowerment aspects of media
literacy education. The Theory of Knowledge core requirement, whose central question is,
How do we know? asks students to become aware of themselves as thinkers, and to
become aware of the interpretative nature of knowledge. These are learning, self-reflection
and critical thinking skills which are all prized in media literacy education. In addition, the
Diploma Program requires at least one course under the rubric of Individuals and Societies,
one of which includes Information Technology in a Global Society. The course features a
conceptual diagram which may appear familiar to media literacy educators and students. It
sketches out relationships between IT Systems, Social and Ethical Significance,
Stakeholders, and Application to Specified Scenarios.
The international schools movement originated in a desire to avoid repetition of the violent
conflicts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and some international schools still place a
premium on the value of international peace. At times, these idealistic aims have appeared
entirely separate from the task of providing student with the skills they need to participate in a
global economy. But a global economy entails global problems, whether social, political,
environmental or economic. Frameworks for global competence, with their emphasis on
collaborative inquiry, self-reflection, perspective-taking, and asking key questions about
specific cases or issues help students become problem solvers who can adapt their thinking
to the scale and context of any problem they encounter.

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 6

CML News
Researcher Chiara De Luca interviewed CML Director Tessa
Jolls for a study on youth empowerment.

Author profile
Chiara De Luca holds an
M.Sc. in Sustainable
Development from the
University of St Andrews,
UK, and a B.A. in
Communications & Media
Studies from John Cabot
University (Rome, Italy). Her
research interests bridge
these wide fields with a
special focus on media
literacy and its contributions
to education for sustainable
development and
community regeneration in
low-income urban
communities. Chiara can be
reached at
deluca.chr@gmail.com.

The Opportunities Created by Media Literacy for Youth

Empowerment and Community Development in the L.A.
Metropolitan Area
Academic scholars currently struggle with proposing
effective teaching practices that can encourage students to
partake in building sustainable societies. UNESCO (2012)
envisions education for sustainable development (ESD) as a
combination of skills, beliefs and knowledge that aim at
worldwide social change for the prosperity of all human beings
within environmental limits. However, there is still
disagreement on what ESD really entails. The impacts of
media literacy (ML) on students engagement for community
development have been overlooked in the literature. This
Masters thesis project searched for evidence that ML could
contribute to ESD by fostering youths analytical thinking and
social engagement while decreasing their risk exposure to
crime and poverty-related factors in deprived urban
neighborhoods.
The project set itself one overarching goal, to explore the
connection between ML skills and community building via
youth empowerment amongst low-income youth in the mostly
Latino neighborhood of Pacoima, Los Angeles. In what way
can ML provide youth with the possibility to make real change
in their local community? How can ML practices help youth
build trust by cultivating local networks and nurture a
participative sense of community - golden rules of a
sustainable community? To address these questions, the
research employed a transdisciplinary approach in that it
tapped into various sources of knowledge and information.
Through semi-structured interviews and desk-based review of
video productions, the study outlined the perceptions of staff
and students involved in the media activities of the non-profit
Youth Speak! Collective (YSC) based in Pacoima as well as
the perspectives of some California-based media scholars,
among whom Tessa Jolls, Director of the Center for Media
Literacy (CML).
Some of the after-school programs offered by YSC
engage Pacoima youth by teaching media production, digital
photography, web design and other high-tech skills. Classes
include both theory and practice, teaching students how to
become effective media makers by using media tools to
campaign for the things they believe in. YSC media programs
let youth express themselves and raise awareness on issues
affecting them directly in Pacoima (e.g. immigration reform,
lack of school facilities, high drop-out from school, gang

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 7

violence, teen pregnancy).

The study found that media activities could lead to
change in multiple ways. For example, they can become a
source of extra funding to support projects that aim at
community building and learning, offsetting state budget cuts
recently enacted on after-school programming in California.
With the media skills gained through YSC training, youth can
create media productions for other non-profits and small
businesses in Pacoima. This way, they get paid and can
provide further funding to the organization. The extra financial
resources are used not only to buy brand-new media
equipment for YSC but also to start projects that involve youth
and their families, such as the construction of sports facilities
and a community garden. These projects all aim at inspiring
the entire community into sustainability learning and living.
Furthermore, media activities were found to contribute to
the growth of empathy-based relationships within YSC. The
youth interviewed stressed that ML changed their lives to the
extent that they were able to look at things from multiple
perspectives and open up their eyes to different situations - all
key aspects of critical thinking and acknowledged ML benefits.
Supported by understanding caring mentors (the YSC staff),
youth explore their environment with no fear of failure and
cultivate social capital by networking and team working with
peers from the same community or bordering neighborhoods.
During the interviews, this was said to boost youths selfesteem and permeate of trust their interactions with peers and
adults. Indeed, empathy-based relationships were indicated to
help spread trust and social cohesion in Pacoima.
Tessa Jolls recalled in the interview that ML is only
practiced in the USA by passionate people, teachers who
want their students to have an opportunity to understand
media. She described ML as an analysis-based activity, a
student-centred training to be applied to any media, in and
outside of school, and to any subject matter. For Jolls, there is
never an ending point with ML because people can always
become more media literate. ML itself is tied to social justice
and sustainability discourses because it calls for a deeper
understanding not only of how the multifaceted media system
functions but also how the power structure is represented
[and perpetrated] to us (Jolls). As the CML Director stressed,
ML stands as an indispensable citizenship skill leading to
action change and as such, it opens up opportunities for youth
to become better educated and knowledgeable about how to
go about living in the 21st century as responsible citizens.
The key rationale for this study was thus to construct
evidence on the beneficial opportunities that ML could create
for youth empowerment and community development. Media
literacy via youth empowerment seems to be contributing to
community regeneration in Pacoima. It appears that ML can
contribute to empower youth with analytical and citizenship

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 8

skills so as to grow as community leaders in a more

sustainable local society. Exploring other opportunities
generated by ML education for youths evolution as next
leaders of local communities is a pressing concern to deal with
in academic research for the eventual establishment of more
sustainable neighborhoods in 21st-century metropolitan areas.

New Resource Mastering Media Literacy

Mastering Media Literacy with contributions by Frank Baker
and other experts in the field is now available. Edited by Heidi
Hayes Jacobs.
Book description: Discover the role media can play in
preparing students to compete in a global society in which
cultures, economies, and people are constantly connected.
Learn how to merge technology and instruction successfully,
giving students greater access to knowledge and making
learning more meaningful. The authors provide practical tips
for incorporating media literacy into the traditional curriculum.
http://www.frankwbaker.com/mastering_media_literacy.htm

About Us...
The Consortium for Media Literacy addresses the role of
global media through the advocacy, research and design of
media literacy education for youth, educators and parents.
The Consortium focuses on K-12 grade youth and their
parents and communities. The research efforts include
nutrition and health education, body image/sexuality, safety
and responsibility in media by consumers and creators of
products. The Consortium is building a body of research,
interventions and communication that demonstrate
scientifically that media literacy is an effective intervention
strategy in addressing critical issues for youth.
http://consortiumformedialiteracy.org

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 9

Resources for Media Literacy

Interview with Robert Davis, Jr., The College Board
While information may be readily accessible globally, new organizational structures are
needed if students around the world are to access high quality instruction and support.
Through this interview, we offer the College Boards Advanced Placement exams and the
Confucius Institute as concrete examples of such structures.
In November 2013, CML President and CEO Tessa Jolls traveled to China as part of the
Chinese Bridge Delegation sponsored by the College Board and Hanban, the Chinese
government agency which oversees the Confucius Institute. The Chinese Bridge Delegation
offers American K-12 educators and administrators an inside look into Chinese primary and
secondary educational institutions.
The 2013 Delegation, known as Sticky Rice, had an experienced leader in Robert Davis, Jr.,
who is Executive Director of Chinese Language and Culture Initiatives for the College Board.
Before joining the College Board, Bob served as both Director of World Languages and
International Studies and the Confucius Institute of Chicago at Chicago Public Schools. In
1999, he established the Chinese language program for Chicago, which grew to be the largest
Chinese program in the nation with over 15,000 students enrolled each year. He has served
as an advisor on Chinese language and cultural issues to Chicagos Mayor Richard M. Daley
and President Obamas 100,000 Strong Initiative. In 2011, Bob was a member of the hosting
committee to Chinas former President Hu Jintao, who visited the Confucius Institute he
established in a historic visit to Chicago. In this interview, Davis offers his insights on the
globalization of education and nurturing the growth of foreign language programs in U.S.
schools.
CML: In this issue of Connections, were focusing on the globalization of education, in the
United States and abroad. Were very interested in hearing about your work with the College
Board and the Confucius Institute. Were also hoping that you can speak to the broader trends
in the globalization of education. Were hoping to capture your impressions of the changes
youve seen over the years youve been with the College Board, and wed also like to focus on
your advice for educators who are considering the possibility of organizing teacher and student
exchanges into their programs here in the U.S.
RD: It is an interesting time, not just in the U.S., but globally. Theres been a revolution in
technology that has enhanced access to information and facilitated dialogue. With these
changes, weve been able to look at each others best practices, and were finding that theres
not just one answer to what makes a strong educational system. What we see is the U.S.
looking to other countries, to countries in Scandinavia, and in Asia, like Singapore, South
Korea and China, to see their best practices around instruction and teacher training. And
these countries have been looking to the U.S. as they attempt to understand the fostering of
individuals in our educational system, trying to examine what gives America a sense of

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 10

individualism and creativity that defines us in so many ways.

Thats the main reason why Ive gotten involved with the Chinese Bridge Delegation. It offers
many opportunities for educators and administrators to spend time with each other and with
global partners. It offers a chance for them to get their heads together, visit schools and set
up ongoing conversations so that they can learn from each other and partner on interesting
solutions for global education.
CML: The scale of the Confucius Institute is widespread, operating in many different
countries, and with numerous U.S. locations. How do you see the work of the Institute?
RD: The specific goal of the Confucius Institute is to promote the Chinese language and the
culture of China. They strongly believe that its a way of bringing people together, by having
people have some understanding of Chinese culture, and having opportunities for exchange.
Ultimately there are political implications, depending on the strength of those dialogues.
Hanban has been an independent organization since 2003. In that time, theyve grown
tremendously. Theres nothing at that scale elsewhere in the world. The organizations that
have gone before them, like the Cervantes Institute, the Alliance Franaise, the Goethe
Institute and other organizationsthe step up in scale has been quite remarkable. Every year
they convene a meeting in December at the World Confucius Institute. Colleagues come from
the Middle East, Africa, Asia, all over. Youre sitting with people who are doing similar work in
radically different environments.
CML: What do you see as some challenges in the U.S.?
RD: Theres a great interest in world languages in the U.S. Theres always interest, but
theres often a disconnect in implementation. You have the challenges of curriculum, with the
battle for minutes and packing away as much as you can in the time provided. We have a
much shorter school day and year than in other countries. Its not always a level playing field.
We started Chinese language programs in Chicago public schools in 1999, and it took a lot of
work. There wasnt such an interest in Chinese. At the time there was an early opening of
reform in China, and in the role the Chinese were playing internationally. As financial markets
opened, it translated to the concept here that there were greater opportunities for exchange.
Secretary Clinton has been a huge advocate for teaching Chinese, and thats really how
people started paying attention.
Despite our best efforts, were far from where we should be with second and third language
education--despite the fact that we have such a diverse, multicultural population, and that we
have all these fantastic resources. We are seeing progress, however. It takes some time.
You cant just flip a switch. Theres a process involved, including the certification, training and
licensing of teachers. Initially the interest was not there. A lot of my work involved talking
about why China was important. Now, districts are asking, How can we get this started right
away? So many schools, parents and families are interested now, but how are we going to

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 11

meet the need?

CML: What advice would you have for districts that are interested?--or for whatever entity that
sees this as a priority? If a district were looking closely at the possibilities, and asking how
they could overcome some of the barriers, what would you say?
RD: Its very complicated, but mostly because every community is different. Ultimately the
choices made for curriculum in schools should be really well thought outnot like the way
Spanish has been taught in this country, where it comes and goes. Youre essentially setting
students onto a trajectory and then taking them out midway through. I personally believe its
most important to learn a world language. Chinese might not be the best fit for every
community. Some communities have great professional opportunities with China, like some
communities that have worked with China in the manufacturing sector. Others may have
better choices in Spanish or Arabic. But I very much urge programs to be planned in advance.
Schools should be able to take a reverse look. What will the program look like when its
complete? How is it articulated through grade levels and benchmarks? At the College Board,
we obviously call for strong assessment and a unified curriculum, with backward mapping of
curriculum so that schools can have a comprehensive view of the end goal. It needs to be
formulated before the program starts. We like to see progress at the elementary level in
communities where high schools would be willing to start. I really think that thats worked. Its
helped teachers plan curriculum. If youre using the AP Chinese exam as an endpoint, what
does that mean for instruction? You do that so that teachers can have that luxuryand it is a
luxuryto have a complete picture of what the curriculum might look like, and to be able to
say what the benchmarks are for each level.
Engaging parents can be very helpful. Ive never worked with a group of people as powerful
and influential as parents. They do need to know what theyre talking about, and why theyre
talking about it. They need to have facts about learning the language, and the benefits. Then
they can make that decision and become advocates. I have seen them take strong stances on
language instruction in board meetings, to the point where districts have implemented them.
They will support students in homework, and become stakeholders in the program.
Its also important to stress that, at this point, when youre getting started in the field, youre not
doing it alone, or starting from scratch. There is a sufficient number of districts that have done
this so that people from other districts can say, Hey, can you walk me through this? Theyve
already put some blood and sweat into it. Its a community of learners sharing best practices.
The more we can talk, the more we can ensure that programs are starting on a good foot.
CML: Do you see that the benchmarks are becoming more globalized?
RD: AP has become a very international assessment, and its growing every day. Its one of
the assessments recognized for U.S. higher education admissions, and theres a certain path
for students around the world who are continuing into higher education in the U.S., and they

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 12

depend on AP assessments. There are similar programs at the International Baccalaureate,

with a similar group of students. Other countries are looking at the curricula, and seeing that
theyve been tried, with reliable testing, and with good security, so there isnt any corruption in
the system. So AP can bring prestige to schools when their students are achieving high marks
on these assessments.
AP does exist in China, but on a small scale. China has a very interesting approach. Theyre
open-minded, but within a certain scale. They try other approaches out as a pilot among
certain schools. When youre scaling up in China, youre scaling up for a quarter of the world!
And theres a lot of economic and cultural diversity in China. A group of cosmopolitan
students will be very different from a group of rural students.
CML: Media literacy trains students in critical thinking skills, and the field has emphasized
critical thinking for media production as well. In China, we saw saw examples of media
production in Chinese schools, but there wasnt so much of a focus on project-based learning
or critical thinking. From a broader perspective, do you believe that learning a foreign
languagelike Chinese in the United Stateshas some benefits for critical thinking? Does it
offer any advantage for improving the ability of students to operate in a conceptual world?
RD: Learning a foreign language, especially thinking in a foreign language, will often
challenge how we think in our own language. In Chinese you say things in such different
ways. And once you get to idioms and storytelling, theres such an interesting difference in
language that its simply lost in translation.
I often ask American students, What do you think is the potential that you will use Chinese in
the future? Theyre not exactly sure. We really work to give tangible examples in a
professional setting. The chances are that multilingual students who are in school today will
have far more opportunities for doing what they choose to do with their lives. If youre a
business analyst, you will still be able to do that job in a different language.
CML: When you were talking about the disjointed implementation of foreign language
programs here, it is a reminder of the more general disconnect that weve seen between
elementary, middle and high school education. We really need to make sure that those
connections are made.
RD: Certainly, theres a disconnect between K-12 and higher education -- we work with that
quite a bit. When you have students who have taken the AP Chinese exam enrolling in
Chinese 101 at the university level, it doesnt always work. Weve challenged the higher
education community to offer higher levels, especially when we have students entering at what
would be considered level three or four.
CML: Universities can also be trailblazing, especially with the long tradition of international
students who have come to universities in the United States and the U.K., when theyve

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received the preparation for it.

RD: I cant really say if its a good thing or a bad thing, but it changes part of the university
when you have a critical mass of students from one place. When you have such a huge group
of foreign students, you have to target services to them as well. There is also a bit of
stereotyping going on. What happens if you have Chinese students who arent brilliant?
Theyre still human. There may be other factors going on in their lives. Just because youve
accepted 100 Chinese students into your engineering program doesnt mean that it will be
transformed into this path breaking program. There are no absolutes.
CML: Do you see any tensions between the pragmatic, skill-driven aspects of language
programs, and more general outcomes, such as international-mindedness?
RD: Given that I work for AP, Im working in a specific field, focusing on specific skills in an
academic environment. We see Chinese as something with a certain amount of rigor that
should translate to higher education. We do see Chinese language instruction as a catapult
for students who want to go into interesting higher education situations. There are very few
students now, about 10 percent, who enter U.S. universities speaking Chinese. Students who
do well stand out as candidates. There are not enough of them in this day and age. If you
took the other approach, students would be studying eight centuries of classic Chinese
culturebut really, in the end, they would know about pandas and paper, and thats not going
to cut it. Universities are seeking students who can speak Chinese well, and if they dont know
how to use the language in the proper setting, it wont be useful at all. Chinese is new enough
to the U.S. that the approach to it is a lot more pragmatic. Theres very little discussion these
days among students of learning Chinese so that they can do a junior year abroad. Most
students know that theyre doing it so that it can translate into professional opportunities for
them. Stillstudents need to know a lot of things to be global thinkers. For me, certainly, its
done a lot. I have an art history degree from a state university in Illinois. But because I had
learned Chinese, it opened all these doors for me.

Sources Cited in this Issue of Connections

Alberts, Hana R. The Globalization of Higher Education. Forbes online 28 July 2010.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, United Kingdom. Digital Britain Report. June
2009. http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm76/7650/7650.pdf
Hayden, Mary, Jack Levy and Jeff Thompson, eds. The Sage Handbook of Research in
International Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007.
Hayden, Mary. Introduction to International Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications, 2006.

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Hobson, Daphne. The Impact of Globalization on Higher Education. Hayden, Levy and
Thompson 476-485.
National Commission on Excellence in Education, United States. A Nation At Risk:
The Imperative for Educational Reform. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,
April 1983. http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/title.html
Office of Communications (Ofcom), United Kingdom. Report of the Digital Britain Media
Literacy Working Group. 27 March 2009.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/media-literacy/digitalbritain.pdf
Sylvester, Robert. Historical Resources for Research in International Education (1851-1950).
Hayden, Levy and Thompson 11-24.

CONNECT!ONS / Med!aLit Moments February 2014 15

Med!aLit Moments
Breaking Down Breaking News
The fact. . .that this individual has been described as someone dressed up in a black top,
black jeanswhat does that say, if anything, about a possible motive, or whatever? Can we
begin to draw any initial conclusions? And I want to alert our viewers, sometimes these initial
conclusions can obviously be very, very wrong. -- CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer, speaking
about the Washington, DC Naval Yard shooting of September 16, 2013.
News commentary of this kind raises some serious questions. What is the difference between
initial conclusions and pure speculation? And why would a respected correspondent like
Blitzer be so anxious to offer them? In this MediaLit Moment, your middle school and early
high school students will have a chance to tackle such questions about breaking news stories,
and theyll receive resources to help them keep asking relevant questions about what they see
and hear.
Ask students to consider the reasons why broadcasters convey inaccurate or unverified
information about breaking news stories.
AHA!: Breaking news reports can be really, really wrong!
Grade Level: 8-10
Key Question #5: Why is this message being sent?
Core Concept #5: Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.
Key Question #2: What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
Core Concept #2: Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own
rules.
Materials: computer with high speed internet access; speakers to amplify volume of podcast
file; handout to accompany lesson
Activity: NPRs On the Media website features a TLDR [Too Long Didnt Read] blog that
posts original stories on contemporary media issues. Point your browser to this TLDR blog
entry: The Breaking News Story Handbook, from September 20th, 2013. Currently, the blog
post is archived here: http://www.onthemedia.org/story/breaking-news-consumers-handbookpdf/?utm_source=local&utm_media=treatment&utm_campaign=carousel&utm_content=item5
In the text of the blog post, youll find a link for a handy, printable PDF which offers tips for
sorting good information from bad about breaking news stories.
Select an excerpt from the podcast story which accompanies the blog post, and play it for your
students.
Ask students, why are breaking news stories often inaccurate? Why would news outlets
broadcast them if theyre not sure of their accuracy? Direct students attention to Key
Question #2 (about news gathering techniques) and Key Question #5 (motivations for early
reporting).

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Share and discuss the breaking news tip sheet with students.
Extended Activity: Use the podcast, handout and Key Questions to help students practice
their skills with a current breaking news story.
The Five Core Concepts and Five Key Questions of media literacy were developed as part of the Center for Media
Literacys MediaLit Kit and Questions/TIPS (Q/TIPS) framework. Used with permission, 2002-2014, Center
for Media Literacy, http://www.medialit.com

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